6 days Ago By Radhika Seth
Nineteen-year-old Mia Tharia winces recalling her audition for Klara and the Sun , Taika Waititi’s upcoming adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s acclaimed novel. “I got into the room and forgot my lines,” the Balham-based teenager says one autumnal afternoon in London’s Corinthia hotel. “Taika asked me to improvise, so I did.
It was crazy getting to command that room with my performance.” Soon she was in New Zealand – alongside costars Amy Adams and Jenna Ortega – playing the girl at the heart of the sweeping sci-fi dystopia. “It was magical.
I kept reminding myself to be present and soak it all up.” On days off, she and Ortega headed to the beach or hung out at Waititi’s house, and Adams looked out for them. “She’s so lovely and caring.
She was like, ‘Does your mom want my number, just to check on you?’ And I thought, if I told my mum this, she’d actually implode.” All told, 2024 has been “a bit mental” for Tharia. Back in the spring, her first film, September Says , a fittingly dark and twisted adaptation of Daisy Johnson’s Sisters , debuted at the Cannes Film Festival .
This month, you can see her in the BBC’s Janicza Bravo-directed The Listeners , as the outspoken teen daughter of Rebecca Hall. Tharia, the daughter of a British psychologist mother and Indian father who works in the science sector, started auditioning for parts age 12. She was unsuccessful for years, until a stint with the Brixton Youth Theatre changed everything: the casting director for September Says came to watch her perform, helped her sign with an agent and put her forward for the part.
“Since then, it’s been a bit of a fever dream.” She’s still figuring it all out, including her style, which she describes as “wide-legged jeans, checked shirts, graphic tees”. When she’s not on set, you’ll likely find her at the BFI watching “strange underground films that no one’s heard of” or working on a play that she started writing after a residency at the Royal Court.
And as for in front of the camera? “I’d love to do a comedy,” she says. “I feel like I’m slowly starting to stop playing 12-year-olds now – I’m getting these complicated young women and that is very exciting.” Denim shirtdress, Gucci.
Leather loafers, GH Bass. Socks, Falke. Photograph: Delali Ayivi.
Styling: Honey Sweet Elias. Hair: Danielle Igor. Make-up: Grace Sinnott.
Nails: Trish Lomax. Set design: Jade Adeyemi. Production: Chloé Medley.
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